Thursday, January 14, 2010

Helping in Haiti

I'm sure that most of you are thinking, as I am, of the situation in Haiti and how individual families might be affected. I urge you to find an organization to support and give a little or a lot, as you are able, to help during this time.

My personal favourite is Compassion International - an organization dedicated to helping children in poverty, in Jesus' name. Here is part of an email that I got from them this morning.

The catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has resulted in unfathomable chaos and devastation for hundreds of thousands of children and families. Compassion sponsors and donors serve more than 65,000 children in Haiti. At least a third of them live in the areas that were hardest hit. The people of Haiti desperately need our help and hope. Compassion International is working rapidly to assess the situation and determine the full extent of damage:• Sadly, we anticipate there will be many deaths.
• We anticipate thousands of children and families will have lost everything.
• We anticipate many of our church-based child development centers will have been destroyed.

Without a doubt, the children we serve in Haiti are in shock and face immediate needs for food, water, medical care, shelter and counseling. We have teams prepared to respond, and we are deeply committed to helping each child. We need your help immediately. Please reach out in the name of Jesus to bring relief, comfort, love and restoration to precious children and families whose lives have been devastated by this crisis. Please go to Compassion and give now!

Samaritan's Purse has already sent supplies and personnel to Haiti and they are well equipped and organized to assist in these kinds of crisis. They are partnered with another agency which is even more helpful at this time.

And just as important as money is the need for prayer. There are so many needs - so many people - so much devastation and yet God is able to do far more than we can imagine. I'm praying and praying - He knows how to help when I am unsure.